High-End Gun Clubs Appeal to New Firearm Enthusiast Demographic

Around the country, multi-million dollar high-end gun clubs are opening their doors to America’s new demographic of firearm enthusiasts, who are young, affluent, and increasingly female.

These gun clubs—comparable to country clubs—draw in families, celebrities, and new gun owners who don’t fit with the stereotypical shooting ranges their fathers grew up in.

According to The Washington Post, one of the high-end gun clubs in Miami—Lock & Load—”attracts celebrities like Lebron James who shoot fully automatic machine guns.” Load & Load is “the number one ranked activity in the city on TripAdvisor.”

In Manassas, Virginia, Elite Shooting Sports has a “concierge desk where shooters check-in and sign forms on iPads.” It is run by former professional shooter Greg Wodack, who saw where the booming gun industry was headed and tried to get in front of it. Wodack wanted to create “a shooter’s version of affordable luxury.” And the “nearly $14 million project” that is now Elite Shooting Sports gives his customers just that.

In Houston, Texas, Athena Gun Club offers a similar experience, including guns with the name of their range etched upon the side of them, shooting classes, and an introduction to guns for novices, among many other services.

Whether in Miami, Manassas, Houston, or other cities with high-end gun clubs, the overarching goal is the same—to appeal to the new demographic where “the average age of target shooters is 33.” Nearly half of these shooters “live in urban or suburban areas” and almost 1 out of 10 of them are female.